Colorado 9 between Breckenridge and Frisco. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)

Proposition 110: Sales taxes for transportation

Type: Change in state law. Simple majority required for passage.

At issue: Should Colorado raise sales taxes by just over half a penny to fund highway and mass transit projects?

This debate has raged at the state legislature for years, and this November, voters will finally have a choice. Behind door No. 1 lies a .62 percent sales tax hike that would raise $767 million a year for state highway, mass transit and local infrastructure projects. The bulk of the proceeds would be used to pay off $6 billion in transportation bonds. The debt payments would cost the state up to $9.4 billion with interest over 20 years.

The ramifications: The typical Colorado family making $74,000 is projected to pay an extra $131 in sales taxes each year to fund the measure. That would give the state a dedicated revenue stream for roads, while sparing the rest of the state budget the cuts that would be required to fund the state’s infrastructure needs otherwise.

For more: Read the measure and the ballot analysis.

— Brian Eason, Special to The Colorado Sun 

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